Cyber-criminals get smart as cybercrime is expected to evolve in 2015

According to a report conducted by Kaspersky, an upsurge was registered in malware incidents where banks have been breached using methods coming directly from the APT playbook. Once the attackers got into the banks networks, they siphoned enough information to allow them to steal money directly from the bank.

Findings indicate that attacks against cash machines (ATM) seemed to have exploded in 2014, with several public incidents and a rush by law enforcement authorities globally to respond to this crisis. For 2015, the study expects further evolution of these ATM attacks with the use of APT techniques to gain access to the ‘brain’ of cash machines. The next stage will see attackers compromising the networks of banks and using that level of access to manipulate ATM machines in real time.

The research also shows that, despite efforts by Apple to lock down the Mac operating system, there are still malicious software being pushed via torrents and pirated software packages. The increasing popularity of Mac OS X devices is turning heads in the criminal world, making it more appealing to develop malware for this platform.

Also, incidents such as the NFC hack on Chilean public transport show an interest in abusing public resources such as transportation systems. Ticketing systems are being shown to be vulnerable and in many cities handle credit card transaction data directly.

Attacks against the Internet of Things (IoT) have been limited to proof-of-concepts and warnings that smart televisions and refrigerators will be targeted by hackers to create botnets or launch mischievous attacks. The report anticipates, for 2015, attacks against networked printers and other connected devices that can help an advanced attacker to maintain persistence and lateral movement within a corporate network.